Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Four men who are accused of murdering 'Donbass Cowboy' Russell Bentley, by torturing him to death and then blowing up his body with a block of TNT, reportedly want to evade being tried for murder by volunteering to go back to fighting in Ukraine. ⬇️

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1824501968821256208

3/ Three soldiers – Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, and Andrey Iordanov – are accused of the murder and of blowing the body up with a block of TNT inside a VAZ 2115 car, while a fourth, Vladimir Bazhin, is accused of having disposed of the remains on Vansyatsky's orders.

3/ Three soldiers – Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, and Andrey Iordanov – are accused of the murder and of blowing the body up with a block of TNT inside a VAZ 2115 car, while a fourth, Vladimir Bazhin, is accused of having disposed of the remains on Vansyatsky's orders.

4/ They have been charged with three offences under Russian law, namely abuse of power resulting in death, the use of physical violence and torture with desecration of the body, and concealment of a crime. If convicted, they would receive a substantial prison sentence.

5/ However, on 2 October 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a new law that allows defendants in cases that have already been investigated and referred to court to sign a contract to participate in the war in Ukraine.

6/ Russia has burned through a huge number of convicts in its war but doesn't want to carry out a full mobilisation due to the political risks involved. It's pursuing what's been called a 'crypto-mobilisation' instead, by trying to find new sources of manpower for the war effort.

7/ One method is by mobilising accused defendants (who, it should be noted, have not been convicted of anything). This is a more attractive prospect that it might seem because of the atrocious conditions in Russian prisons and the near-certainty of convictions.

8/ However, victims and their relatives have expressed opposition to the new law. Russian Human Rights Council member Eva Merkacheva says that if cases are aborted because defendants have been sent to the war, "the truth in the case will not be established."

9/ She says that victims will consider their rights not restored and expresses concern that an investigation "may become negligent in its work, because then why carefully collect evidence?"

10/ Bentley's widow Lyudmilla has expressed similar concerns and opposes the four men being allowed to go back to the war. "So what happens?", she asks. "Killed, caught (good if caught), convicted and sent back to the front?"

11/ "This will give them a feeling of permissiveness and will lead to them shedding more innocent blood! This will set a bad example and a feeling of permissiveness for others who are quietly watching the outcome of this case! It should not be like this.

12/ "And what? Will they be given weapons again? Will they again dislike someone, and will they again kill someone innocent with this feeling of permissiveness? This cannot be allowed!

13/ "Now I am thinking not only about myself, but about their new possible victims in the future, if the court decides to give them the opportunity to return. Therefore, I urge the court not to allow this!"

14/ She has urged the Donetsk Garrison Military Court to impose "the harshest punishment" and says: "The whole world is waiting for punishment! Tens of thousands of people from different countries are waiting for justice." /end

Source:
rtvi.com/news/vdova-voe…